Anionic polymerization of unsaturated monomers, such as conjugated dienes, with lithium initiators, such as sec-butyllithium, has been described in many references. The termination of living anionic polymers to form terminal functional groups is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,417,029, 4,469,829, 4,518,753, and 4,753,991. Of particular interest for the present invention are terminal hydroxyl groups.
It is an object of the present invention to provide hydrogenated butadiene polymers having terminal functional groups and low viscosity at room temperature. It is also an object of the invention to use the low viscosity polymers to make coatings and other high molecular weight polymers.